The Mouse Genetics Core provides a diverse array of services which are available to all Washington University investigators. Cryopreservation is an effective strategy for managing mouse lines. It allows for the reduction of risks from natural disaster, unforeseen infertility, genetic contamination, disease outbreaks, and spontaneous mutations. In the past, cryopreservation of sperm and eggs has not been as effective as cryopreservation of preimplantation embryos. Within the past year, however, a new protocol has been perfected and published by The Jackson Laboratory in which in vitro fertilization (IVF) using frozen sperm showed a success rate that actually surpassed the rates for fresh sperm for many inbred lines that had previously been unrecoverable after SC. This project will optimize the new sperm cryopreservation (SC) technique and the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique in the Mouse Genetics Core and will allow the MGC to freeze down at least 90 lines of mice for CDI associated investigators. In addition, the MGC will optimize the ICSI protocol for using non-motile sperm, either fresh or frozen, to create viable embryos and live born pups to help rescue lines suffering from fertility issues.

Project Update:

Subsidized pricing for CDI-funded investigators (pay only $252.00 per line). Visit the Mouse Genetics Core Website for More information and request forms: http://mgc.wustl.edu.